work life balance

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A Psychological Contract Perspective on the Role of Expectations and Organizational Support Steven M. Farmer, Donald B. Fedor Volunteer behavior is often dif cult to manage or control since control systems of the sort that direct behavior in most for-pro t organizations are usually not available. This study introduces a tool—the psychological contract—that can give voluntaryagency administrators a powerful way to help them understand and manage volunteers’ contributions to their organizations. The study finds that elements of this approach, especially the level of support the volunteer believes he or she is receiving from the organization, are especially important tools that can both increase participation in various events and reduce withdrawal or turnover intentions.

Volunteer Participation and Withdrawal

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ESPITE the increase in the practical importance of volunteering, rigorous empirical research exploring management of volunteers working in nonpro t organizations has been surprisingly sparse (Pearce, 1993). Part of the reason may be that we lack coherent, well-established frameworks for understanding what drives volunteer behavior in nonprofits, notably level of participation or withdrawal from the organization. In this article, we introduce a psychological-contract approach (Rousseau, 1989) and apply it to understanding volunteer behavior in nonprofit organizations.

Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston. We would like to thank John Maslyn, Sanjay Menon, and four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this article. Please send all correspondence to Steven M. Farmer, School of Business, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5790.

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT& LEADERSHIP, vol. 9, no. 4, Summer 1999

© Jossey-Bass Publishers

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